Petee kirk



(No Model.)

P. KIRK.

OVEN 0R PURNAGE FOR HEATING INGOTS AND BLOOMS. No, 343,820. Patented June 15. 1886.

' 4k 'IIIIIIIIII/IIIIIIII!!! IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM UNITED STATES PATENT tron.

PETER KIRK, OF WORKINGTON, COUNTY OF CUMBERLAND, ENGLAND.

ESPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 343,820, dated June 15,1

Application filed Jnne23,1885. Serial No. 169,515. (No modeLl Patented in England November 25, 1884, No. 15,497; in France March 16, 1885, No. 167,722,- in Belgium March 19, 1885, No. 68,227, and in Germany March 25, 1885. No- 33,323.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PETER KIRK, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at VVorkington, county of Cumberland, England, have invented certain Improvements in Ovens orFurnaces for Heating Ingots and Blooms or for Maintaining the Heat Thereof, for which I have obtained a patent in Great Britain, No. 15,497, November 25, 1884, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates, principally, to the keeping hot of ingots of steel or Bessemer metal after they have been withdrawn from the molds. I construct a cellular furnace, having ovens 0r cellsbuiltin one, two, or more ranges in height, each cell by preference holding only one ingot. To heat the furnace preparatory to the introduction of the ingots, and subsequently to maintain a suitable degree of heat,

.I arrange for hot currents to flow through the cells, the ingots being by preference so placed in the cells as that the said currents shall flow from the tips toward the bases of the ingots.

Myimprovecl oven or furnaceis illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 isa sectional elevation on the line A 'B, Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a verticalcross-section. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan on the line 0 D, Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is an outside front elevation of one end of the furnace.

In these figures a a are two gas producers, and b b are the cells to contain the ingots. The gas-producers may be of any suitable construction, and may be built at one end of the heating-furnace, as in the example; or the gas may be derived from a more distant source. The gases generated in the producers pass through the down-fines 0 into the gas-flue d, which extends from end to end of the furnace below the cells I),- or the gas is otherwise suitably conveyed into the fine (1. Above the gasflued is an air-fluey c, the two being separated by means of metal, or fire-clay plates, or slabs. From the gas-flue the gas flows through passages d into a chamber, f, which extends along the back end of all the cells I). As the gas flows through the passage (1, it meets with currents of air which are discharged from the air-flue 6 through openings at c,and the mixture of gas and air is burnedin the chamberf. The flames and heated gases flow from the chamber f through the cells b into a front chamber, 9, which communicates by means of an opening, 9, at one end of the furnace, with a bottom waste-flue, h, which communicates with the chimney.

Between the chamber 9 and the flue h is a second air-flue, i, which communicates at one end by means of a cross-flue, i, with the airfiue e, and supplies the latter with air. In the example air is forced into the flue i by means of an air-injector, k, (seen in Fig. 2,) the air being injected by means of a jet of steam. From this injectora flue, Z, leads into the flue i. A fan or any other suitable means may be used to obtain the supply of air. The air becomes heated by flowing through the flue z, and is still further heated in the flue e. The cells 12 are formed in a central wall, m, which is built of fire-brick or refractory material, each cell in the example being of a size suitable to contain a single ingot and to leave a suitable amount of space for the passage of the flames or heated gases from the chamber f into the chamber 9. By preference the cells are inclined from one chamber to another, so as to facilitate the discharge of melted cinder, which flows down the floors of the cells into the chamber from which it can be re moved at intervals.

- To still further provide for the discharge of the cinder, I make a channel, or two or more channels in the floor of each cell, and I so form the said floor as that the ingot touches the same at two or more points only, as indicated in Fig. 2. This construction of the floor also tends to the more uniform heating of the ingot owing to the heated gases being permitted to pass below the ingot. The outer walls of the furnace are inclosed within an iron shell, as is usual, and in the front and back walls and plates openings 12 0 are formed, which are in line with the cells. The openings at are for the introduction of the ingots, and the openings 0 for the withdrawal of the same. The sloping formation of the cells facilitates the introduction and withdrawal of the ingots. The mouths of the said openings are a little tapered and are closed by means of metal plugs, which are tapered to lit the mouths of the opening, and are filled or lined with fireclay or refractory material. In lieu of these plugs the mouths of the openings may be fitted with hinged or sliding doors, or may be closed by other suitable means. I prefer that the charging-openings a shall be within the range of the ingot-crane, so that it will not be necessary to use bogies to convey the ingots to the oven or furnace. withdrawing-openings o, and both charge and withdraw through the openings at. The ingots, if at once placed in the cells of the furnace after withdrawal from the molds, can be kept for a considerable length of time with a comparatively small consumption of gas, and the heat can be better regulated than in the ordinary heating furnace, so as to do little more than conserve the contained heat of the ingot and to render the heat more uniform throughout the mass. It will be seen that the tips of the ingots, which are usually colder than the bases, are exposed to the greatest heat, so that they receive a little excess of heat, which enables them to bear the transport to the rolls better than when the tips are cooler than the rest of the mass, and the ingots also roll down easier. The oven or furnace may also be used in the heating of blooms, although 1 I may dispense with the I do not confine myself to the formation of the furnace two cells in height.

and openings with doors in one or both of the outer walls for the introduction and withdrawal of the ingots.

3. The combination of a gas-producer with a furnace having chambersfg along opposite sides thereof, transverse sloping cells 6, and openings 1 and 0, with doors in the opposite walls in line with the said cells, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination of a gas-producer with a furnace having chambers f 9 along opposite sides thereof, transverse connecting cells I), and corresponding openings and doors in the outer walls, with a communicating gas-flue, d, and air-flue 6, all substantially as specified.

.In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PETER KIRK. Witnesses:

DAVID FULTON, CLIFFORD CHADWIOK. 

